Need a hole thats .039"? I got a drill bit for that

Here is another unique find from my dads tools box. These are the smallest drill bits I have ever seen. They range in size from .039 to .0135!!! I cant imagine trying to drill a hole that small! I know I don't have anything with THAT small of a chuck.

Usually referred to as "wire size" drill bits. Inexpensive sets usually include from #61 to #80 or so. They're held by a pin vise chuck, which may be a hand-held type, or may be chucked into another drill. Can't find mine right now or I'd post a pic.

Found it, will post pics later. Kinda got most of my attention on the TV right now due to weather...

I see them referred to as wire size but what would something this small be used for? I also saw some very expensive sets.

Circuit boards

bill2654 said:

I see them referred to as wire size but what would something this small be used for? I also saw some very expensive sets.

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I've used them to drill the orifice for a spray nozzle. The nozzle was made of brass. These things are very easy to snap off, so you have to go slow and be very careful.

Ravenex said:

Circuit boards

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Circuit boards typicall have larger hole than this. Additionally, circuit board bits have larger diameter shanks than the twist portion.

Ravenex said:

Circuit boards

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Circuit boards typically have larger hole than this. Additionally, circuit board bits have larger diameter shanks than the twist portion.

My small drill bit set with chucks


Starret 4-jaw pin vices


Circuit board bits. These are #57, just the first ones I grabbed.


Drill bits are sized in three ways, letter size, wire gauge (number size), and inch/metric size.

I love my Wire Gauge bits!!!

I use them for lots of things, but most frequently for making "epoxy rivets".

The chuck in the Fiskars hand drill in this picture goes all the way to zero, but I also have a pin vise style one that has different collets like in a Dremel chuck.




I thought every rocket builder had a set of these???

There are some more of them on my Amazon Wish List that are pretty sweet too.

They are too useful to NOT have them.


https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...in+Vise&rh=i:aps,k:Wire+Gauge+Drills+Pin+Vise

I use 'em to clean out vacuum holes in silicon wafer polisher heads...

About 20 years ago I used similar tiny drill bits for an AMT/ERTL fiber optic Star Destroyer model kit.

The kit had a LOT of fiber optic cable basically about the size of human hairs and they provided a really cheap tiny drill bit and motorized drill for you to pretty much drill hundreds of holes. After a few dozen drilled holes, the cheap bit broke (of note was that it was set into plastic...offset is more like it) and I ordered 3 more at about $5 each directly from the company and after those quickly broke, I found a set of drills like the one you have above. Things got a lot easier after that.

I still have the kit and actually took it out to show some guests about a month ago...they were quite impressed, so it was almost worth the work.

Pretty standard sizes in a machine shop. When you have to smaller than a #80 it gets interesting....

Bob

I make a point of drilling tiny epoxy rivets on minimum diameter stuff where you can't necessarily do a TTW fin.
I just stick a Teflon tape covered spent motor in there, AFTER drilling the holes, so I don't ruin my ability to fit a motor, or have to sand away the excess inside the tube.
Even on LPR and MMX. Epoxy rivets for everybody!!! The Fin gets them too!

These holes are #57 or #58 on my 13mm Star Trooper.

If you don't have a Pin Vise, Zero Chuck or Collet, you can wrap some tape around the shaft of the tiny bit, and weedle it by hand.
If you need to position the hole precisely, use a sewing needle as your "Starting Punch", to make the divot mark before you begin so the bit does not walk.

I find my self drilling holes in things like scrap just for fun because it is so enjoyable to drill holes at such a small scale.
It's fun to put a few tiny holes in coins and then spend them back into circulation.:wink:

Bought my set at a local Airgas Welding store. Acetylene cutting tip cleaner kit, has a few of the smaller sizes in it.

Cost was great; the holder is the pin vise and finger tip drill. Just ask for the tip cleaner that has the small drill bits.

Mike

KenECoyote said:

About 20 years ago I used similar tiny drill bits for an AMT/ERTL fiber optic Star Destroyer model kit.

The kit had a LOT of fiber optic cable basically about the size of human hairs and they provided a really cheap tiny drill bit and motorized drill for you to pretty much drill hundreds of holes. After a few dozen drilled holes, the cheap bit broke (of note was that it was set into plastic...offset is more like it) and I ordered 3 more at about $5 each directly from the company and after those quickly broke, I found a set of drills like the one you have above. Things got a lot easier after that.

I still have the kit and actually took it out to show some guests about a month ago...they were quite impressed, so it was almost worth the work.

Click to expand...

Took some pics since I still had it out; however I don't have a good low-light camera and I also didn't want to burn any of the old sealed interior bulbs, so I used 6V instead of higher (12V really used to put on a show!).

Here's a pic of one of my hairs pointing at one of the drilled holes (which has a fiber optic strand glued into it). There are a bunch of other holes in the pic; however they're tricky to spot.








I also have the Enterprise and Deep Space Nine station fiber optic kits; however after this one was so much work, I never started the others (I'm saving that for retirement when I have more time).

With the advances in LEDs lit models are a whole lot easier these days, and you don't have to worry about melting your models anymore (unless you're pumping out an insane level (600+ lumens) of light).

KenECoyote said:

Took some pics since I still had it out; however I don't have a good low-light camera and I also didn't want to burn any of the old sealed interior bulbs, so I used 6V instead of higher (12V really used to put on a show!).

Here's a pic of one of my hairs pointing at one of the drilled holes (which has a fiber optic strand glued into it). There are a bunch of other holes in the pic; however they're tricky to spot.

I also have the Enterprise and Deep Space Nine station fiber optic kits; however after this one was so much work, I never started the others (I'm saving that for retirement when I have more time).

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Wow that looks really cool

Wow Ken that is awesome. I never knew. Thanks to everyone for responding. I love learning new things.

Thanks guys! Makes the crazy amount of work a bit more worthwhile. :wink:

Believe it or not, I found the drill provided in the kit (hoarder's Eidetic memory?), so here's a pic of it along with the "Chea-Pass" drill bit:



A close-up of the drill bit provided...and yes...it came that crooked. Luckily it's just flexible enough to use (until it snaps):



So a 0.039" drill bit looks to be 1mm...judging by the pic above, the bit provided for the fiber optic kits was maybe ~0.013".

BTW - for anyone interested in one of these kits, one thing I did differently was glue the fiber optic strand sticking out the outside by a bit, paint and then I trimmed off the ends. I don't think the instructions noted to do this and it made things a lot easier. You can also try this yourself if you can find the fiber optics...shouldn't be expensive. Also LED would definitely be a suggested upgrade.

i use drill bits down to a #70 for drilling holes for scrollsaw fretwork.
they can disappear reeeeeal easily

Wow Ken, that Star Destroyer lighting is impressive!
I've used these small bits before when I was planking wood ship models.
Drill a small hole then drive in small nail to hold down the plank ends.

hcmbanjo said:

Wow Ken, that Star Destroyer lighting is impressive!
I've used these small bits before when I was planking wood ship models.
Drill a small hole then drive in small nail to hold down the plank ends.

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Thanks Chris! I've also used small drills to pre-drill wood ship model planking...I first attempted to just hammer in the tiny nails, but that was ridiculous! I may eventually take a pic of the star destroyer up in the night sky...maybe I'll go for broke and use the 12V then...worse case I'll crack her open and switch to LED and internal lipos.

So anyone out there ever used a drill bit smaller than ~0.013"? :grin:

I just found out more info on the fiber optics used from this fiber optics retailer:

"The AMT / ERTL fiber optic models and fiber optic lighting kit*, use the same 64 strand fiber optic cable that we carry. It is sixty four strands of .265mm filament. The outer jacket diameter is 3.3 mm."

So each fiber strand was 0.265mm (1/4 mm) and this means the drill bit I had shown is likely close to 1/3mm/0.013" and after a bit or research, that's a #80 drill bit (0.0135")...smallest size I found off a drill bit list on the web and as Bob noted earlier, smaller than that gets interesting.

So much for my epoxy rivets!

What the heck was in that Ejection Charge???(A10-3T)



Everything is fallible.

I'm reminded of a story I read years ago about two companies working in the early days of aerospace and chip manufacturing. Their machinists were having a bit of a pissing contest and trying to outdo one another.

One company fabricated an incredibly tiny piece of wire, far smaller than a human hair, and proudly sent a sample of their work to the other team to show off.

The second company promptly drilled an even smaller hole thru the side of the wire and sent it back.

The first company then drilled out the length of the wire, turning it into a tube, and won the bet.

(tl;dr: "tiny drills can be fun".) :wink:

sort of like using individual atoms to spell out a company logo, right .
Rex

I forget where I learned, it, but probably back when I was doing gunsmithing, I learned that you can press an actual needle or piece of wire down against a file, then roll it along the length of the file while applying heavy pressure with a wood block or some such to make an improvised fine gauge drill bit. I don't remember if you had to anneal it first and then harden and temper it, but that would make sense.
It was probably learned and or used in fixing wood stocks. Too long ago to remember.